Aviation Distributed Ledger for Flight Plan Security
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current aviation communication systems face challenges in maintaining secure, reliable, and immutable records of communications and telemetry between airborne assets and ground-based control systems, particularly in ensuring data integrity and security against external threats.
Innovation Solution
A distributed ledger system is integrated into the aviation communication network, operating in conjunction with a spectrum management system to create an immutable record of transmissions between airborne radios and ground-based control systems. This system includes network elements such as base stations, multi-access edge computing systems, and core data centers, which record and verify data transmissions using cryptographic hash functions and consensus processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a distributed ledger system is implemented to ensure immutable records of communications, then data integrity and security are improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The distributed ledger system is segmented into multiple independent nodes distributed across the aviation communication network. Each node maintains a copy of the ledger and independently validates transactions, eliminating the need for a single centralized authority and reducing overall system complexity while maintaining data integrity through distributed consensus
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a ledger node as an intermediary component that mediates between communication elements and the immutable record-keeping system. This intermediary abstracts the complexity of distributed consensus algorithms and cryptographic operations, presenting a simplified interface for recording and verifying communications while maintaining the security and integrity benefits of the distributed ledger
2Reliability
If cryptographic hash functions and consensus processes are used to verify transmissions, then security against external threats is improved, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary cryptographic operations and consensus validation in advance of actual communication transactions. By pre-establishing trusted node identities, pre-computing cryptographic keys, and pre-validating consensus parameters, the system reduces the computational overhead and processing time required during real-time communication verification
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a consensus mechanism where a majority (excessive) of nodes must agree for a transaction to be recorded, providing enhanced security. However, the system optimizes this by allowing partial processing of cryptographic operations in parallel and implementing timeout mechanisms that prevent excessive processing delays, balancing security requirements with acceptable processing times
Data Source
AI summary
Presented herein are systems and methods for operating a flight plan based distributed ledger system implemented on an aviation communications network. According to an aspect, data associated with communication transmissions occurring between communications elements of the aviation communications network may be recorded on the distributed ledger system. The communications elements involved in the distributed ledger system may be determined using a received flight plan. The flight plan information may be used to initialize the ledger information at each communications element involved in the distributed ledger system. The distributed ledger system may be updated to add or remove communications elements if the flight deviates from the original flight plan. After the flight plan is executed, the distributed ledger system may inactivate the ledger and store the ledger information in a centralized repository.